npv708 wrote:You know, on second thought, I feel kind of bad for Manti Te'o. I mean, not only did AJ McCarron beat Te'o/ND for the Nat'l Championship, but Te'o couldn't even get a real gf, while McCarron was dating Miss Alabama.

From my friends twitter "Move over Katherine Webb, Manti Teo's girlfriend has just been named Miss Storybook Forest"

ESPN senior columnist Gene Wojciechowski went on SportsCenter tonight and explained what happened with his Te'o story, which aired in October. Wojciechowski says he couldn't find an obituary for Lennay Kekua. He also couldn't find any records about a car accident. Obvious red flags. So why didn't Wojciechowski push further? Because Te'o told him to back off.

I find it utterly disgusting that the Notre Dame AD was "moved to tears" discussing this horrible situation, but the rape and subsequent suicide of Lizzy Seeburg or the death of Declan Sullivan due to Brian Kelly's gross negligence didn't do the same. Penn State is still fresh in our minds, but this university is just as dirty and football-worshipping as the rest of them.

shafnutz05 wrote:I find it utterly disgusting that the Notre Dame AD was "moved to tears" discussing this horrible situation, but the rape and subsequent suicide of Lizzy Seeburg or the death of Declan Sullivan due to Brian Kelly's gross negligence didn't do the same. Penn State is still fresh in our minds, but this university is just as dirty and football-worshipping as the rest of them.

I'm not a Christian, but that the fact that certain people at ND claim to represent some of the better virtues of the religion is appalling.

This is literally the weirdest story I've ever heard. I don't know what to think. I've been a huge fan of Te'o's for years and he was the last person I ever expected to do anything like this. There's no way he wasn't in on it so his and ND's responses disgust me. Anchorman summed up my feelings on the matter perfectly:

Honestly - I think Te'o is gay, and this whole thing is a cover up for it. My guess is he comes out before the draft and becomes a jackie robinson type figure without the talent of jackie robinson. Maybe with this whole thing he slips to second round for the Steelers to take shot at him without having to use a 1st round pick.

Even without all of this nonsense, 2nd round is still too high for his talent level. He's a product of media hype. Middling talent that scores big points from the talking heads because of his passion and how motivating he is and blah blah blah and all of that is gone now. You'll be hard-pressed to find an NFL player that's going to take this guy and his schtick seriously.

Dickie Dunn wrote:Eve without all of this nonsense, 2nd round is still too high for his talent level. He's a product of media hype. Middling talent that scores big points from the talking heads because of his passion and how motivating he is and blah blah blah and all of that is gone now. You'll be hard-pressed to find an NFL player that's going to take this guy and his schtick seriously.

That kinds of reminds me of the Rocky Bleier biography, when his new NFL teammates tell him to can all of the college rah-rah crap.

Malkamaniac wrote:Good job ESPN when you originally reported this. The media is so stupid.

It's been a long time since ESPN has bothered to "report" anything. They're a sports media hype machine. Find a story that helps the ratings and beat it to death. Their interests are compromised. ESPN's success depends on the success of the sports they have a vested interest in. The sports they broadcast. The seven bowl games they own. They're a joke.

Even when discussing this story yesterday they were in full CYA mode. They went through multiple updates of the story before even mentioning the possibility that Te'o was in on it. Wojciechowski said when he went forward with the original interview and story that he couldn't find any record of her dying or a funeral announcement. No background information on her at all. When he asked Te'o for a picture of her or to speak to her family, Te'o said to respect their privacy and leave them alone. Really? No red flags went up on that? Nah, lets just run the heartbreaking/feel good story. Notre Dame plays on ABC next week.

Alejandro Rojas wrote:Tony Kornheiser was laying the smackdown on Twitter last night to the "journalists" in the sports world.

He's right. He's also ignoring the fact that he was absolutely giddy about Notre Dame's "return to relevance" and is part of the old white-guy sports reporter contingent that over-hypes and over-rates Notre Dame and turns a blind-eye to their crimes.